The manufacture and repair of large components, such as a rotor blade for a helicopter, require grinding, sanding, bonding, and potting or boding using various resins, sealants, etc. In particular, fitting a tip covering to the rotor blade requires grinding the tip of the blade, and then bonding and sealing the tip covering to the blade. Once cured, the tip end must be ground again to meet the requirements of a fabrication plan. This includes grinding cured polymers, titanium, and nickel, which produces dust, debris, and potentially harmful fumes and sparks. During these processes, the rotor blade must be covered to prevent damage to nearby people, equipment, and object from flying debris. This protective covering must be adjusted to allow other operators to work on different sections of the blade. Occasionally, the blade must be repositioned or flipped, which requires the protective covering to be completely removed and reapplied after the blade movement. Currently, this work is done in an open area of the shop, since the blade is too large to fit into a standard booth, and a larger booth would not feature adequate power to remove the generated debris and fumes, exposing the shop environment to unsafe conditions.
One solution is to vacuum the dust or other debris during the grinding. For example, the mechanic may grind the blade tip end using one hand to hold the grinder and the other hand to hold the vacuum hose aimed at the tip end. However, in this procedure, the mechanic is seated too close to the grinding operation to be able to directly view the surface being grinded, so that he or she can continuously monitor the status of the operation. Instead the mechanic has to frequently stop and check that this operation meets the fabrication plan's requirements, which in turn adds to the length and cost of the operation. Further, the fumes and finer dust produced by the grinding of the blade escape the vacuum into the air, and a large quantity of heavier dust and debris escapes the vacuum to the floor, and also large amounts land on the mechanic himself, nearby mechanics, walls, ceiling, and floor. A hood-type vacuum design has been used, but was unsuccessful in containing all fumes, debris, and dust, partly due to the fact that the grinder operates at speeds of up to 20,000 rpm.